Oregonians charged with crimes who cannot get timely legal representation from the state must have their cases dismissed, the Oregon Supreme Court ruled Thursday.
In a unanimous decision, the court ruled that a defendant’s criminal charges must be dismissed if the state has failed to provide a defense attorney for 60 days in a misdemeanor case or 90 days in a felony case, after the defendant’s first court appearance.
The ruling could force the dismissal of more than 1,400 criminal cases statewide for those who do not have a court-appointed lawyer. More than 900 affected cases are in Multnomah County, according to data from the Oregon Judicial Department.
Under this decision, prosecutors would still be allowed to refile the case at a later time, the justices determined, so long as the state is able to provide counsel.
“We acknowledge that setting such a limit involves a judgment call,” Justice Rebecca Duncan wrote in the 40-page opinion. “Oregon’s current public defense crisis requires us to make that call and establish a general rule that can be applied consistently across the state.”
Both the United States and Oregon constitutions say that people charged with a crime have the right to an attorney. For decades, states — including Oregon — have paid for public defenders for people who cannot otherwise afford a lawyer. Oregon has failed to meet that constitutional obligation for years.
The Oregon Supreme Court found a failure to appoint counsel harms criminal defendants by restricting their liberty, but also denying them any means to challenge charges or move their case forward.
“The defendant is without a legal advocate to review the state’s charges and evidence, gather and preserve defense evidence, and take steps to advance their case toward resolution, whether through dismissal, plea, or trial,” Duncan wrote for the court. “Meanwhile, the state has counsel to protect its interests and prepare its case.”
The longer it takes for a criminal defendant to get a lawyer, the more likely it is they “waive their right to counsel just to be able to move their case forward. That undermines the purpose of the right to counsel,” the court found.
Thursday’s ruling by the state’s highest court revolves around the case of Allen Rex Roberts. In 2021, Multnomah County prosecutors charged Roberts with driving a stolen vehicle. A judge dismissed the case in 2022 because Oregon failed to provide him a public defender for months. In 2024, prosecutors reinstated Roberts’ case, but again dismissed it due to lack of counsel.
The state Supreme Court found Thursday that Oregon violated Roberts’ right to counsel.
“In short, the defendant is subjected to the state’s prosecutorial powers and all the accompanying consequences but left without the means to effectively respond,” the justices wrote.
Attorneys for the Oregon Department of Justice have agreed the state’s public defense system has shortcomings and noted that all stakeholders — from the courts, to the public defense commission, to prosecutors, defense attorneys and the legislature — are working to fix the problems.
Prior to the court’s ruling, they argued the state never violated Roberts’ rights. Dismissing people’s charges, attorneys for the state told the Supreme Court, was not warranted.
On Thursday, a spokesperson for the agency said it would not appeal.
“We respect the Oregon Supreme Court’s decision to set clear limits on how long someone can go without counsel,” Attorney General Dan Rayfield said in a statement. “This has been an emergency for a long time.”
During the 2025 legislative session, lawmakers sent a significant amount of money to the public defense system. They passed a $707 million budget, which represented a 14.8% budget increase from the previous biennium. They also funded a total of 180 positions.
Clackamas County District Attorney John Wentworth, who is also president of the Oregon District Attorney Association, said despite hundreds of millions of dollars from the Legislature, the problem persists.
“This Supreme Court’s decision means that criminal defendants, their victims and our communities will continue to lack justice as potentially thousands of cases will now be dismissed,” Wentworth said in a statement Thursday. “This is an immense waste of taxpayers’ money.”
The number of Oregonians charged with a crime and do not have an attorney has been decreasing recently, but there are still about 2,500 people without representation, according to the Oregon Judicial Department. The agency said it was still compiling the complete number of cases affected by Thursday’s decision.
“We have been living in this public defense crisis for several years,“ Nadia Dahab, the attorney who argued the case on Roberts’ behalf before the Supreme Court, said in an interview Thursday. ”These ongoing constitutional violations have become the norm."
Dahab said she hoped the court’s opinion would help reset the conversation and practices in courtrooms across the state, “as we also try and find a solution to this going forward.”
Dahab’s arguments build on an earlier case where a federal judge addressed people waiting in custody without an attorney. In that case, the U.S. District Court Judge Michael McShane ordered jails to release people within seven days if a public defender wasn’t assigned to their case.
“It’s an embarrassment to the state,” McShane said in 2023 during a ruling from the bench. “It’s a complete tragedy and nobody seems to have an answer. Literally we suspended the Constitution when it comes to this group, and that simply is not the appropriate response.”
A spokesperson with the Oregon Public Defense Commission, the state agency that contracts with public defenders and private attorneys, said they’ve made progress in reducing the number of people waiting for an attorney, and would work to respond to the ruling.
Ken Sanchagrin took over as the interim leader of the commission last April. Under his tenure, the number of people without legal representation decreased 32% by the end of last year.
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek selected Sanchagrin last month as the new permanent head of the agency.
